


Nail Me Good

by Star55



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baker Harry, F/F, Girl Direction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-01
Updated: 2019-02-01
Packaged: 2019-10-20 07:15:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17617898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star55/pseuds/Star55
Summary: Harry gets her nails done by the cutest girl in existence, and it's just her luck that the girl is straight. Harry falls for her anyway.





	Nail Me Good

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Leeargh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leeargh/gifts).



> I figured I'd get in in time to post for Harry's birthday. I can't believe my bb son is 25 years old today! omg. time flies. 
> 
>  
> 
> This is for Leah because she inspired this. ily a lot, Leah ♥ Thank you for answering every single question I had regarding this, and then some. You're an angel. ♥
> 
>  
> 
> Betaed by Emma. Any leftover mistakes are my own. Please (kindly) tell me if you find something glaringly awful.
> 
> Please do not break the fourth wall and show this to anyone in the band, their family, friends, etc, etc. Thank you

It’s the pun that seals the deal for Harry.

As if she could pass up the chance to go into a nail salon called _Nail Me Good_. 

The opportunity presents itself and she leaps on it before she even really has a chance to comprehend exactly what getting her nails done even actually means.

Sure, she’s had her nails done in the past – she has an older sister who liked to use Harry as her own personal Barbie when they were younger, but since then, there haven’t been many reasons. Or opportunities. And as a baker, Harry’s hands see a lot of manual work. The last thing she wants is to lose a fake nail inside someone’s birthday cake. It would _ruin_ her.

Either way, Gemma has asked her to pretty please come with her to the premiere of her new movie, and Harry is a good sister, so she said yes. The downside is that she needs to look her best, and honestly, Harry _without_ cake batter under her nails is Harry at her best.

So she’s booked off a few days, letting her trusted team of employees take the reins of her baby _A Bun In The Oven_. Which is something Harry has never done before. But it’s giving her team a chance to really shine on their own. Plus, she deserves a break. She hasn’t had a break in… well, she hasn’t had a break since she opened _A Bun In The Oven_. She’s definitely due one.

Which is why Harry is pushing open the doors to _Nail Me Good_ on a Friday morning. Gemma had booked her an appointment and all Harry has to do is go to the appointment, get some pretty fake nails, and then go home, get dressed into the dress that Gemma has picked out (it’s pink, she has such a good sister who knows her favourite colour and that Harry loves being in pink whenever she can). Then she’s getting her hair done at Gemma’s place (though good luck to whoever has the task of taming her curls). 

And then it’s show time.

Harry is really looking forward to tonight. Gemma has worked really hard on this film, and Harry is so happy for her. She wants her big sister to succeed in everything she does. 

“Hi, welcome to _Nail Me Good_ , how may I help you?”

The girl behind the counter is a little young looking, Harry thinks, chewing her lip. She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Um, ’m Harry, I’ve got an appointment?” 

The girl nods and touches the tablet screen on the desk in front of her. “You’re with Louis, c’mon.”

Harry follows the girl towards a table where someone is sitting at already. 

“Lou, your eleven o’clock is here.”

“Thanks, Daisy,” Louis says, looking up at the girl, smiling. “Have a seat, love.”

Harry quickly takes a seat. She sets her handbag down on the floor next to the desk and gives Louis a smile. “I’m Harry.”

Louis gives her a brilliant smile. “Louis. Pop your hands here for me?”

She complies, resting her hands in front of Louis. 

“Have you ever had acrylics before?” Louis asks, glancing at Harry as she fiddles with something. Harry shakes her head, her thumb automatically moving to twist the ring on her index finger. 

“No, I’m a baker,” Harry begins. “It’s a bit risky for me to have fake nails.”

“Acrylics,” Louis corrects with a soft smile. “It’s alright, we’ll get you sorted, curly. Do you have an idea what colour you want?”

“My dress is pastel pink, if that helps?”

Louis nods. “Got a photo?”

Thankfully, Harry does. She quickly unlocks her phone, swiping through the messages between her and Gemma until she gets to the photo of the dress. She shows it to Louis, who hums to herself before plucking a bottle of pastel pink nail polish from the collection that Harry is certain will match her dress perfectly.

“How do you feel about a feature nail?” Louis asks. “I have a nice glitter pink polish that would go great with this.”

Harry nods. “I love that idea.”

Louis smiles at her again and Harry grins stupidly back. She really is useless around pretty girls.

“Nice rings,” Louis comments as she gets started. Her hands are incredibly soft, Harry notices. It must be a requirement for working with people’s hands and feet all day.

“Thank you,” Harry replies. She stares down at the rose ring she has encircling her ring finger. It’s her favourite one. She doesn’t get to wear them very often, but she makes sure to put her rings on whenever she has a chance. She likes the way they make her feel.

“So, where do you work?” Louis asks conversationally, glancing up at Harry through what are probably the most beautiful set of eyelashes that Harry has ever seen on a person before. She wonders if they’re Louis’ own or if they’re false ones. She also wonders how soft they are to touch. She’s quite glad that her hands are occupied, or she’d be tempted to reach out and touch them. 

“I work at _A Bun In The Oven_.”

Louis’ grin makes Harry’s stomach swoop pleasantly. “That is such a great name for a bakery,” she comments. “I’m pretty sure Lottie has got us stuff from there before.”

Pride blooms in Harry’s chest. “Yeah?”

Louis nods. “My sister, Lottie, and I, own this shop together. She let me pick the name.”

Harry grins. “I love a good pun. My sister made the appointment for me. She was going to book me at _Sarah’s Beauty_ or here but I told her that I wanted to come here purely because of the name.”

“Wait until I tell Lottie that,” Louis says. Even though she’s staring at Harry’s fingers, Harry can see the smile on her face. Warmth blooms inside of her at that smile. 

_Gosh, Harry, get it together_ , her mind berates her. 

She’s a bit of a hopeless lesbian at the best of times, but a girl who likes a good pun as much as she does? It’s a crush just waiting to happen.

“That dress was really pretty,” Louis starts. “Do you have something exciting planned for your Friday night?”

Harry nods. “Yeah, I’m going to my sister’s movie premiere.”

Louis looks up at that. “Yeah? Anything I might’ve heard of?”

“Um, _Girl Almighty_?”

Louis’ eyes widen dramatically and she drips nail polish onto Harry’s finger. “Shit,” she says hastily. “Sorry. This never happens.”

“It’s alright,” Harry replies. She feels quite useless, just sitting there while Louis cleans up her mess. Louis clears her throat and starts working again. 

It’s clear to Harry that Louis likes her sister’s films if her reaction is anything to go by. Harry gets it – a lot of people react the same when they find out that Gemma is Harry’s sister. She bites back a sigh, disheartened. Of course she would meet a cute girl who would have a girl crush on her own sister. It’s just Harry’s luck.

She falls silent while Louis works on her. She fiddles with her phone using her free hand, opening up the thread of messages from Gemma. She types out one saying that she’s at the nail salon right now getting her nails done. She doesn’t expect a reply from Gemma, knowing that she’s incredibly busy today. 

When her phone buzzes with a response from her sister, Harry smiles. 

_I hope you got the lesbian technician_ , reads the reply. Harry quickly looks up, hoping that Louis didn’t see her phone. She knows her cheeks are warm and she surreptitiously slides her phone closer to herself to tap out a reply. She had no idea that there were any lesbians working here. And it’s nice to be in the presence of another woman who likes women. Harry wonders who it is. 

A part of her hopes that it’s Louis, but she doesn’t want to be forward and ask her. That’d just be rude.

“Alright, curly, next hand,” Louis says in her lovely, soft voice, interrupting Harry’s thoughts. She flushes again and locks her phone, turning it so it’s face down. She passes Louis her other hand and Louis gets to work. 

She admires the acrylics – they’re so pretty. The colour is amazing, and Louis was right – the feature nail looks fantastic. If her other hand wasn’t busy, she would take a photo and send it to her sister.

Right then, Harry realises she has a bigger problem. Her eye is itchy and she has these new long nails that she doesn’t normally have and she’s petrified that she’s going to poke herself in the eye.

“Um, Louis?”

“Yeah, love?” Louis asks, looking up.

“How do I rub my eye?”

A look that Harry can only describe as fondness crosses Louis’ face. “Use the pad of your finger. Like this.” She demonstrates on her own face first. It isn’t as reassuring since Louis doesn’t have long acrylics like Harry does, but she copies the action, feeling instantly better that she got the itching to stop, and didn’t poke herself in the eye. 

“Better?”

Harry nods. Louis smiles at her before turning her gaze back to Harry’s nails. 

“Do many people poke themselves in the eyes with these nails?” Harry wonders.

“The unlucky ones,” Louis replies easily. “We haven’t had any incidences, thankfully.”

Harry stares at her nails. “How long do these things last?”

“Three to four weeks.”

Harry hums. She doesn’t know if she can have them for that long. She uses her hands a _lot_. She has a bunch of questions that she wants to ask, but she doesn’t want to annoy Louis too much. 

A particular question springs to mind and Harry goes bright red. Louis’ name gets called and she happens to look up, seeing Harry’s bright red face. She gives her a curious look before turning her head, to whoever called her name.

Louis interacts with a short, pink haired girl, whose nametag reads Lottie. Harry figures that she’s the Lottie who owns this shop with Louis. She’s rather pretty, Harry notices as she chats to Louis about something. 

Lottie pats Louis on the shoulder and leaves them alone.

“Would you like a glass of water, Harry? You’re awfully red,” Louis offers.

“Um, okay, thank you.”

“Lottie, can you get Harry a glass of water?” 

“Alright.”

Harry chews her lip. Surely she can’t just ask Louis what she’s thinking, can she? It’s highly inappropriate, and they don’t know each other.

“Whatever it is, I’m sure I’ve heard it before,” Louis says pointedly, like she’s read Harry’s mind. It’s probably written all over her face. She has a very expressive face. It’s her downfall sometimes.

“Umm…” Harry trails off, looking over the other side of the room. “If acrylics last that long… How do you masturbate?”

Loud laughter forces Harry to look back. Lottie stands there, holding a glass of water, her head tipped back as laughter spills from her lips. She sets the glass down next to Louis, who is choking on air it seems.

Harry wants the ground to open up beneath her and swallow her whole.

“Some of us have short nails for that reason,” Lottie replies, throwing a wink in Harry’s direction before leaving.

Harry glances after her. But Lottie has long nails, she notices. She’s very confused. 

“What Lottie said,” Louis adds. She passes Harry the glass of water and she gratefully takes it, sipping greedily at the cold liquid. 

Embarrassment doesn’t even begin to cover how Harry feels. Her cheeks feel like they’re never going to cool down. She’s very tempted to press the glass to her cheek to try and sap some of its condensation, but she figures that would be weird. 

“You’re not the first person to ask that,” Louis says, her tone oddly reassuring. “And you definitely won’t be the last.”

Harry nods, not trusting her voice. She sets her glass down, staring at the acrylics on her completed hand. They would do some serious damage to someone’s vagina. She suppresses a shudder at the thought.

“Is that something you’re worried about?” Louis asks, far too casually for Harry’s liking.

It’s Harry’s turn to choke on the air. She shakes her head far too vigorously if the look on Louis’ face is anything to go by.

“After your event, you can trim your nails down,” Louis offers, turning her face away from Harry’s, thankfully, and refocusing back on the task at hand. Harry chews her bottom lip, thinking. She could do that. For work purposes, of course. She needs to have short nails for work.

Her face burns still.

She takes another sip of her water just for something to do with her free hand. The other one is still in Louis’ gentle hold. If Louis was a lesbian, or a woman who has sex with other women, she’d understand Harry’s conundrum. 

Though, it isn’t like Harry has a girlfriend, or has had sex in a while for it to really be such a big issue, but now that she has something that will hinder her ability to actually _have_ sex, she’ll probably find a girl to smush booties with and it will be all for nought. 

A sigh escapes her lips. Something that Louis doesn’t fail to notice.

“I’m almost done.”

“What? Oh! No! I wasn’t!” Harry says in a rush, her cheeks heating up once again. This is what life is like for her – cute girls make her all kinds of flustered and unable to form sentences. And to also put her foot in her mouth by asking weird masturbation questions. She’s never going to live that down. 

Louis gives her a crooked smile. “It’s alright. I know that this can take a while. The first time people get acrylics they don’t tend to realise how long it takes.”

“I wasn’t sighing at you,” Harry says, trying to reassure Louis. She gives her best ‘please believe me face’ and Louis nods once, turning her gaze back to Harry’s hand. 

“These will look really good with your dress,” Louis says as she places Harry’s hand in the little nail drying thing. “Can I take a picture of them?”

Harry nods. “Alright.”

Louis gets up, grabs a phone and sets it down beside her while Harry’s nails dry. “So… Is your sister gay?”

Harry’s heart sinks in her chest. “Bisexual,” she replies. “That’s why she was thrilled to be in _Girl Almighty_. Representation and all that.”

Louis nods. “My little sister is bi as well, she’ll be thrilled. She’s loved Gemma since she was on Hollyoaks.”

“I’ll see if I can get Gemma to sign something for her.” _Shit_. She didn’t meant to say that. Harry’s mouth tends to run away when there are cute girls in her presence. And Louis is the cutest girl she has seen in a _long_ time.

“Really? That’d be ace. Fizzy will be stoked.”

Harry can’t help but smile back at Louis’ expression. She bites back a sigh. She didn’t mean to say that. She doesn’t really have any reason to come back to _Nail Me Good_ after today. But she _wants_ to. Louis is easy to be around. Her aura draws Harry in like none other. And her hands are so incredibly gentle. 

So now she’ll have to get Gemma to sign something for Louis’ sister because she is a useless lesbian with a tiny crush on the beautiful straight girl who did her nails. 

The universe really dislikes Harry, she’s sure of it.

Louis gently arranges Harry’s hands to take a photo of them and Harry can’t help but stare at her. Her tongue pokes out the corner of her mouth in concentration as she takes the photo, and then she smiles brilliantly when she’s got a photo she likes. Harry is absolutely done for. 

“Thank you,” Harry says when Louis sets the phone back down. “What do I owe you?”

“Nothing,” Louis says. “It was pre-paid for.”

“Oh. Um. Thanks?” 

Louis grins at her. “Here’s my card in case you want a touch up.” She passes Harry a business card. She awkwardly opens up her handbag, not really knowing how to navigate her new, longer nails, and she pops it in. 

“Next time Lottie comes to _A Bun In The Oven_ I’ll send over one of my daily specials,” Harry offers.

Louis’ face lights up. “That’d be lovely.”

Harry gives her a soft smile in return. She feels like this is a _moment_ , but it can’t be because Louis is straight and not into Harry. She tries to keep the disappointment off her face.

“I hope you have a good night,” Louis says. 

“Thank you, you too.”

Louis’ smile makes Harry’s stomach tingle happily. She slings her handbag over her shoulder and gives Louis an awkward wave before leaving the shop. 

She almost drops her phone trying to unlock it, her new nails getting in the way of putting her passcode in. She sighs, wandering down the street. Messaging Gemma will have to wait until she’s stationary. She can’t walk and text at the same time.

On the upside, her nails look _fantastic_. She loves the feature nail that Louis did. The pink glitter is so very, very her, and she loves it a lot.

~*~

Harry has, in her possession, the trilogy of films that Gemma did, with an autographed note that reads ‘ _To Fizzy. Thanks for supporting me throughout my entire career. Not many people liked me in Hollyoaks, so it’s nice to know that I had one fan! Gemma xoxo_ ’.

And now she has to take them to _Nail Me Good_ in hopes that she doesn’t look weird. 

She can picture it now – walking into the shop, presenting this DVD box set and Louis being _so impressed_ that she forgets that she’s not attracted to girls and kisses Harry right there, in the middle of the salon. 

A loud buzzing noise disrupts Harry’s fantasy. She quickly opens the oven door and pulls out the batch of cupcakes that she’s just made. 

It’s been a week since Gemma’s film premiere and Harry hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Louis. She hasn’t met someone so easy going before. Someone who appreciates her puns, and who didn’t scoff at them. Puns are _awesome_ and Louis appreciating them makes Harry like her even more.

The premiere went well. Gemma had complimented Harry’s nails, and had immediately said she’d sign something for Louis’ sister because she’s bisexual, and Gemma is awesome like that. She said she had been disappointed that Harry didn’t get the lesbian who worked at the nail salon to do her nails, she was so certain that she and Harry would get along, whoever she was. But nope, Harry has a crush on a straight girl, and it’s very, very sad.

There’s been buzz all over the internet about Gemma’s new movie, _Girl Almighty_ which officially came out at the cinema yesterday. Harry wants to go see it again she loved it that much. She was hoping maybe to ask Louis but she doesn’t want to push it. She doesn’t want to be _that gay_ who is infatuated with a straight girl. She’s done that before and it never ends well. 

But there’s just _something_ about Louis that Harry really likes.

Which is why Harry is going to go over to _Nail Me Good_ during her lunch break with a batch of freshly made cupcakes that she has made, and the DVD box set for Louis’ sister, Fizzy. 

And if Louis _happens_ to be there and Harry _happens_ to flirt with her. Well. No harm done.

Once Harry has decorated all of the cupcakes (she went for a nail theme because she’s a cliché with a crush on a straight girl), and she hopes that Louis likes them. She isn’t sure what Louis’ favourite flavour cupcake is, but she figures that she can’t really go wrong with plain vanilla with her delicious icing that she keeps a secret because it’s too good to share.

Harry fills the bright pink box with cupcakes, making sure that none of them are going to fall over. She closes the lid and checks the time. She can spare an hour, she thinks, taking off her apron. She hangs it up and then washes her hands, making sure she doesn’t have any batter residue stuck to her skin.

It had taken a while, but Harry eventually got used to having longer nails. She’s torn between wanting them off, and wanting them to stay this length forever. Right now, though, the nail polish is chipped at the ends (despite wearing food handling gloves, she’s still managed to chip the nail polish), and they’re looking a little tacky. She hopes that Louis will be too distracted by cupcakes to notice the atrocity that is going on with her nails.

“I’m taking my break,” Harry says to her second in charge, Niall, who nods at her before finishing her sale with the customer she’s serving.

It’s thankfully a short walk to _Nail Me Good_ , and Harry, who is a caffeinated gay, gets there in ten minutes. She pushes the door open, eyes immediately darting around, hoping to spot Louis. It’s still early by most people’s standards. Harry has been up since four baking, and it’s only just after ten, so she hopes this means that Louis isn’t on her break yet. 

Lottie is behind the counter, finishing up with a client, and she looks up, spotting Harry. She gives her a warm smile, which Harry returns. The customer leaves and Harry sucks in a breath, stepping forwards.

“Hi,” she says. “Um. Is Louis around?”

Lottie smirks. “Yeah, I’ll just get her.”

Relief floods Harry’s body. She sets the box on the counter and hums to herself while she waits. 

“Harry? Hi!”

Harry turns around and almost forgets how to breathe when she sees Louis. She’s just so _gorgeous_. “Hi. Um. I brought you some cupcakes.” She pushes the pink box towards Louis.

“You did?” Louis’ expression is the softest expression that Harry has ever seen and it makes her heart thud harder in her chest. 

She nods dumbly. “And I got something for Fizzy, too.” She sets down a gift bag on the counter next to the box. 

“Harry.” She can’t quite decipher Louis’ tone, but the smile Louis gives her fills Harry’s tummy with butterflies. 

“I hope you like the cupcakes,” Harry says, licking her suddenly dry lips. “I don’t know if you have any allergies, or what you like – you don’t have any allergies, do you?”

Louis shakes her head. “Not a one, love.”

“Good,” Harry replies, relieved. “But they’re just plain vanilla. Um. I hope you like them.”

She watches as Louis opens the box. Her laughter makes Harry warm down to her toes. “These are _perfect_. Lottie! Come here!”

Lottie’s pink head of hair appears and her gaze flicks between them. 

“Harry here made us cupcakes,” Louis says as she holds out the box towards her sister.

“Did she now?” Lottie asks, that smirk back in place. Harry isn’t exactly sure what is going on, but she figures it’s something sisterly. She and Gemma have interacted like this in the past, so she gets it.

“These are cool,” Lottie says, holding up the cupcake that has a little fondant hand poking out of the icing, complete with beautiful hot pink nails. It had taken Harry ages to make each individual nail with the fondant, but it’s worth it. Especially when she sees Louis’ expression at the one sticking its middle finger up. She couldn’t pass up that opportunity, and she figured Louis would appreciate her humour.

She’s thankful that she isn’t wrong when Louis throws her head back and laughs. 

“This is my favourite,” she says. She gets out her phone and proceeds to take about a hundred photos of the cupcake. Pride swells in Harry’s chest. 

“Thank you,” Harry replies. Her cheeks are red, she knows it, but she doesn’t care.

“Come get a selfie with me?” Louis asks. Harry nods and moves next to Louis. She can smell the faint scent of Louis’ perfume being this close to her. It’s very lovely.

“Here, I’ll take it,” Lottie says, holding her hand out for Louis’ phone. 

Harry smiles at the camera, trying not to show just how affected she is at being this close to Louis. Lottie takes a few photos and then passes the phone back to Louis, who immediately flicks through them. 

“I’ll put this one up on our Instagram, I think,” Louis says. “What’s your handle? I’ll tag you.”

“Um,” Harry says. “It’s ABunInTheOven all one word.”

Louis’ quick fingers move across the screen and as she locks her phone, Harry’s own pings in her pocket, signalling a notification. 

“Harry! Your nails look _awful_ ,” Louis says a moment later, gabbing Harry’s hand in hers. “We need to fix this right away.”

Before Harry can even really protest, Louis is leading Harry to her table and practically pushing Harry in the chair. 

“Same colour again?” Louis asks, getting her supplies ready.

Harry shakes her head. “I’d like blue this time,” she replies. “Maybe like a pastel blue?”

Louis grins at her. “An excellent choice.”

Louis makes quick work of removing the previous nail polish. Her hands are still incredibly soft, Harry notices. She would like to just sit and hold Louis’ hands all day if life permitted it. 

“How was the premiere?” Louis asks, looking up at Harry for a brief moment while she works. 

“It was good,” Harry replies. “Gemma loved my nails.”

Louis’ smile is worth every single time Harry cursed having long nails for the full five days after having them put on. “I’m glad.”

“Oh, I left the bag for Fizzy on the front counter, will it be safe there?” Harry asks, just remembering about the gift for Louis’ sister.

Louis nods. “Lottie popped it in the back room.”

“Oh, good.”

“I took Fizzy to see _Girl Almighty_ yesterday,” Louis begins, painting a perfect stripe down Harry’s fingernail. “Was it a bit weird to see your sister doing a sex scene with another woman?”

“A bit,” Harry agrees. “But only because she’s my sister. Gemma didn’t tell me how… um… _raunchy_ it was going to be and I had to cover my face with my hands.”

Louis’ laughter makes Harry’s spine tingle pleasantly. “If it were one of my sisters, I’d do the same.”

“She likes to say that it is payback for catching me half naked with my first girlfriend when I was sixteen,” Harry adds. Louis shows no outward reaction. Harry figures that she isn’t overly homophobic because she seems to love her little sister, Fizzy, who she said is bisexual. Which is nice, at least. 

“As an older sister,” Louis begins, not making any eye contact, “I understand her pain. The first time Lottie brought a boy home, I caught them snogging on the sofa. Thankfully they were fully clothed, but it was dark, and I had just got home from a late shift. It was still awkward as fuck.”

“As someone who has been on the other end, it’s just as awkward for us,” Harry replies. Louis lifts her head and smiles brilliantly at Harry. 

It really is such a pity that Louis is straight, Harry thinks, they would make a great couple. She bites back a sigh and lets Louis focus on finishing the last of Harry’s nails. She isn’t sure just when the time flew by, but it has, and her nails are freshly polished. She has a feature nail again, which is really cute. Harry absolutely loves the blue. It matches Louis’ eyes. 

“There, all done,” Louis says, gently putting Harry’s hand back down on the table top. It probably doesn’t happen, but Harry feels like Louis’ hand lingers on hers for a few extra seconds. Her skin still feels warm from their contact.

“Thank you,” Harry says, admiring her nails. The colour is really lovely. “What do I owe you?”

Louis shakes her head. “It’s on me.”

Harry frowns. “Don’t be silly, what do I owe you?”

“What do I owe you for the cupcakes?”

Harry’s lips twitch. “That was a gift.”

“So was this.”

She wants to protest, but she can tell that this will just keep going in circles unless she just concedes. “Alright,” she agrees slowly, and she stands, slinging her handbag over her shoulder. “Thank you.”

“Thank _you_ for the cupcakes,” Louis replies. She gets up too and walks Harry to the door. “Same time next week?”

Harry nods, unable to stop smiling. “See you then.”

It’s hard having a crush on a straight girl. Especially one as sweet as Louis is.

~*~

It becomes a habit.

Every Friday, Harry makes cupcakes especially for Louis and Lottie (and the other staff, too) at _Nail Me Good_ , and every Friday, Louis redoes Harry’s nails. They chat, laugh, and Harry slowly but surely falls in love. How could she not? Louis is exactly her type, which made it easier. And makes it harder for Harry to _not_ have feelings. She is definitely screwed.

And because it’s Friday again, Harry is putting the finishing touches on the batch of chocolate cupcakes that she made and is going to walk them over to Louis’ shop. She can’t wait to see Louis’ face when she sees the little fondant footballs she made to top each cake. After discovering that Louis is a massive footie fan, Harry couldn’t pass up the opportunity. 

The icing is green to indicate the grass of the pitch. It’s easily Harry’s best work yet. She loves it. She has created a little goal net, a few little players, and she created a little Louis. Well, as best as she could. It’s hard getting the perfection that is Louis down in fondant. But Harry tried her best. She just hopes Louis likes it.

After taking a few photos of her hard work, Harry pockets her phone, hangs up her apron and carefully picks up the box. She’s smiling stupidly. It’s hard not to. Not when she’s getting to see Louis for the first time in a week. 

“I’m taking my break,” Harry calls out to Niall, who grins and winks at her. Niall has been teasing Harry about her crush, but Harry has been dutifully ignoring her. 

Not even ten minutes later, Harry is pushing open the door to _Nail Me Good_ and is very badly trying to hide her excitement at seeing Louis again. She takes a breath, schools her features into something less… _giddy_ and dings the little bell to get someone’s attention.

Lottie appears. Her hair is green today. It suits her, Harry thinks.

“Hey,” she says happily. 

“Hey,” Lottie replies. “Louis’ not here today, she’s out sick.”

Harry’s face falls. Her entire body feels disappointed. “Oh.”

Lottie’s expression changes into one of sympathy. “I can tell her you called in?”

Harry shakes her head. “No, that’s okay. She needs to focus on getting better.” 

She feels so utterly and completely _disappointed_. 

“Um. These are for you all.” Harry sets the pink box on the counter and gives Lottie a half-smile. “Um. Have a nice day.”

She opens the door and walks back out onto the London streets.

It takes her significantly longer to walk back to her bakery than it did to leave. She fiddles with her phone, unlocking it. She swipes through the photos that she took of the little fondant Louis and sighs. 

Her phone lights up with a text message from Gemma. 

_Did she like it? Are you both girlfriends yet?_ It reads.

Gemma’s been sweet about the entire thing. She seems to think that Louis is also gay, and not straight like Harry knows she is, and that they’d make a good couple. She was incredibly supportive of Harry’s ambition to create a fondant Louis and football pitch when Harry had the idea a few days ago.

So it hurts a little to see Gemma’s message. 

_She’s off sick today_.

Harry locks her phone and shoves it back in her pocket. She makes her way back to the bakery, and keeps her head down as she enters through the front door to go have some lunch out the back.

Usually she comes back, scoffs some food before doing whatever preparations she needs for the next day’s orders. Today, she has plenty of time to herself. She potters around, checking over the list of things that she needs to do. Weekends tend to be busy, but this weekend there aren’t any special cake orders, and there aren’t any big orders that Harry needs to prepare for.

“I’m going to go home,” Harry says once she’s had some food.

Niall lifts an eyebrow in her direction. “You alright?” she asks. 

Harry nods. “Yeah, of course,” she lies. “There’s no big orders for tomorrow, so I’m going to call it a day. Call me if you need me, yeah?”

Niall nods at her. “Yeah.”

Harry picks up her keys, her handbag, and her phone and wanders upstairs to her flat. It’s very convenient having a flat over her shop. The commute to work is always a breeze, and she can start as early as she likes.

Today, though… today is for having a nice long bubble bath, she thinks. And maybe a few glasses of rosé while listening to Adele. 

Realistically, she shouldn’t be so upset over the fact that Louis wasn’t there. It’s not like Louis isn’t entitled to sick days, especially if she is sick. But Harry can’t help but feel so disappointed.

Every Friday for the last three months she’s been going to see Louis. Every Friday for the last three months, they’ve spent the time talking, laughing, getting to know each other, and while it absolutely wasn’t, it always felt like a date to Harry. Really, it was just her making a new friend. A friend whose number she doesn’t have, and only ever sees in the one place, but a friend nonetheless. So not seeing Louis makes her a little sad. Especially when she had been looking forward to it all week.

Harry pours herself a glass of wine while her bath runs and tees up her Adele playlist. She sinks into the warm water, surrounds herself with bubbles and _relaxes_. She deserves it, after all.

~*~

On Wednesday, Harry is sweeping the back room. She dropped an entire bag of flour earlier, and it went _everywhere_. It managed to get into places that Harry has no idea even existed, and into places that it definitely had no right going into (her nostrils, for one). So she’s sweeping. Which she has been doing for the last hour.

Niall has the day off, so it’s Liam out the front serving any customers that they get. Which leaves Harry blissfully alone to clean up this mess.

She bends down to sweep the last pile of flour into the little dustpan she has with the banister brush, getting it all into the scoop part so she can put it in the bin. She’s just standing when a voice startles her.

“So this is what bakers get up to in their spare time?”

The flour in the dustpan goes everywhere. Harry coughs as it floats around her. She would scream in frustration if it wasn’t Louis standing in front of her. 

“What are you doing here?” Harry asks, blinking. She definitely isn’t seeing things. That is absolutely Louis standing in the doorway looking far prettier than Harry remembers her being. 

“Seeing where your buns go into the oven,” Louis replies, stepping further into the room. 

“Um, the ovens are there,” Harry gestures to the oven-lined wall. 

“So I see.”

Harry squats back down to sweep up the mess she re-created. Thankfully it doesn’t take long and she’s soon emptying the dustpan into the bin.

“Lottie said you were sick,” Harry says. “Are you better now?”

Louis nods. “Much.” Harry can’t help but smile. Just seeing Louis makes her insides tingle with delight. 

“Would you–”

“I loved the fondant me you created,” Louis says at the same time as Harry starts to speak. She gives Louis a sheepish look. “Sorry, we both started speaking at the same time.”

Harry shakes her head. “It’s okay,” she replies. It’s just so _odd_ seeing Louis in her place of work when she’s been seeing Louis at _her_ place of work for so long now. It’s throwing Harry off her game. Not that she _has_ game to begin with. 

“I kept her,” Louis says. “I have no idea how long fondant lasts until it goes bad or anything, but I kept her and I wanted you to know. I kept a footie, too. You’re really talented, Harry.”

Harry blushes bright red. “Um. Thank you,” she mumbles. 

“Would you like to go out sometime?” 

Harry blinks, unsure if she heard Louis correctly. “What?”

“Would you like to go on a date with me?”

“But you’re straight.”

Louis cracks up laughing. “Oh, far from it, love.”

Harry’s cheeks burn brighter. “You’re not?”

Louis shakes her head. She steps closer to Harry and gives her a smile that makes Harry fall in love with her all over again. “I thought you realised I’ve been flirting with you since your first appointment?”

Harry shakes her head. “No, I had no idea,” she replies. “I thought you were straight! I thought I didn’t have a chance.”

“You have _all_ of the chances,” Louis says. It’s cheesy but Harry loves it. “I thought it was obvious that I’m not straight because I don’t have long nails.” 

Harry looks down at Louis’ fingers. She did notice that, but she thought it was a masturbation thing. Her cheeks burn at the embarrassing memory. 

“They’re definitely not acrylics,” Harry says. 

“So, what do you say, curly? Would you like to go on a date with me sometime?”

Harry nods, unable to stop from smiling. “I’d love that.”

“Aces,” Louis replies. “Can I kiss you? I’ve been dying to ever since you first came into the shop.”

Harry nods again, not really trusting her voice. 

Their lips meet and it’s absolutely everything to Harry. She hasn’t ever been kissed like this before. It’s soft, sweet, and hot all at once. Louis is an exceptional kisser.

“Um, that’s rather unsanitary to be doing that back here,” Liam says from the doorway.

Harry reluctantly pulls away from Louis’ magical lips. “I’m taking my break then,” she declares. 

Louis smiles brilliantly at her, and Harry can’t help but curl her hands into Louis’ hips where they rest. She is absolutely in awe that this incredible girl is actually into her and wants to go on a date. Louis kisses her once more, quickly, but it’s enough to have Harry’s stomach flip flopping happily at the touch as she leads them upstairs to her flat to hopefully continue kissing the girl of her dreams.

**Author's Note:**

> If you liked this, please leave a comment. It absolutely makes my entire day. ♥
> 
>  
> 
> rebloggable post on my [tumblr](http://star55.tumblr.com/post/182466899766)


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